The Next Level

Scott Davies thought his dream to turn pro had been dashed by ill health and ill fortune, but determination and no little talent saw him taken on by Dimension Data. He tells Sophie Smith about his transformational year.

- Sophie Smith

On the verge of signing a deal with a WorldTour team and realising the chance of fulfilling a childhood dream to become a professional cyclist, Scott Davies thought of quitting.

Davies was in his final year of a long under-23 tenure when he began to question his long-held aspiration of turning pro.

Racing with Team Wiggins in 2017, the humble and precise Welshman was beset with a draining illness. He was almost broken, but mustered enough strength at the baby Giro d’Italia to finish fourth overall. He started to banish the doubts and was back on a career path that eventually delivered him to Dimension Data this season.

“I picked-up a virus, which knocked me out for a few months and then at the time I thought that was it. I thought my dream of turning pro was over,” he recalls.

“I told myself I’d do four years under-23 and then, if it didn’t happen, I’d look at pursuing something else. Even though my heart was set on turning pro, I needed that confidence boost.”

The WorldTour lifestyle, including, typically, relocating to the Continent and travelling extensively, has proved a stumbling block for many over the years. But Davies is already well-adjusted. He’s established in Nice in the south of France, living with fellow countryman and Team Sky rival Owain Doull. Also, through tenures at Madison-Genesis (2014), British Cycling (2015) and Wiggins (2016-2017), he has the nomadic life down to a T.

This gave Davies an advantage compared with other British rookies at January’s Tour Down Under.